Power generation and distribution have always been among the leading industrial sectors in India. The increasing need for sustainable power options in the form of electricity has opened new opportunities in the power distribution sector. The performance of a power transmission device is influenced by the quality of winding coils. The Indian winding wire manufacturing sector has been dominated by foreign manufacturers.
The recent initiatives of the Indian government like Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India are gradually contributing to the increase in manufacturing of Enamelled Copper and Aluminium winding wires by Indian enterprises. Major Indian companies like Adani, Vedanta, and Hindalco have successfully completed capacity additions for aluminium and copper in accordance with their sustainable goals of self-sufficiency. However, most of the service providers rely on third-party manufacturers for needs which project the winding wire market to grow at a CAGR of five percent between FY19 and FY23.
On the other hand, the home consumption of white goods like fans, coolers, washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners and others, has increased on account of increased per capita income. This has in turn resulted in increased demand for Winding Wires. The availability of cheap labour in India adds to the growth of production of these goods for the world market. However, the major challenges faced by the Winding Wire manufacturers are that they are unable to spend on modern plant and machinery on account of low profit margins. The winding wire industry is fragmented, and majority of the manufacturers are small and unorganized, leading to compromising the quality standards of the products. The inputs used in winding wires namely aluminium and copper are also made from scrap, further compromising the quality of the final products.
Winding wires made from aluminium and copper are much higher priced as compared to China, because China does not allow exports of primary aluminium rods, ingots and other materials, thereby ensuring 100 percent availability of the metal and curbing inflation of primary aluminium prices. China allows export of only value-added aluminium products. However, in India, primary aluminium is sold at high prices in domestic markets, making exports of winding wires unviable. Hence, the Government needs to charge export tariffs on export of primary aluminium and copper products.
Need for Consolidation
In order to address these challenges, winding wire manufacturing needs to be consolidated to have larger players who invest in modern plant and machinery using high quality inputs to produce international standard wires and still be cost competitive on account of economies of scale. The current winding wire being sold by manufacturers or being used by users or being imported does not have any mandatory the quality marking like the ISI/UL/CE marks, the same way like we have for geysers, transformers and home appliances. If this marking becomes mandatory, quality standards for winding wires will rise, resulting in improved quality and life of products being made from winding wires.
The usual expectations of consumers for any industry are that they want best quality product at the most competitive prices. However, it is a technical product and there is a lot of development (customization) as per the application of the winding wires. This is where companies like Sterling Enamelled Wires come into play.
Sumit Agarwal, Director, Sterling Enamelled Wires states, “Sterling is very receptive to its customers’ needs and has been instrumental in developing aluminium winding wires for the industry like fans, mixi motors, cooler, air conditioning compressors, distribution transformers, invertors and other products, thereby shifting customers from using copper to aluminium to reduce cost of the product at their end. Not only does Sterling innovate in its own product, but also endeavours to resolve practical difficulties in the usage of wire at the customers’ end like round stators/coils of aluminium, jointing of aluminium winding wires to lead wire, handling of aluminium and more. Thus, it works with customers to keep the end product quality and endurance same as in copper”.
Standing-out in Size & Experience
Sterling Enamelled Wires has an experience of more than two decades of producing quality enamelled wires of copper and aluminium in the size range from 38 SWG (0.150mm) to 6 SWG (5 MM). The manufacturing unit of Sterling is set-up in a plot size of 28000 sq. m with a covered area of more than 2,25,000 sq. ft. in Greater Noida industrial area, thus making it the largest factory in India of aluminium enamelled round wires under one roof having 10,000 MT per annum capacity, approximately equivalent to 33,000 MT of copper enamelled wires.
Sumit mentions, “We are equipped with ultra-modern technology and state-of-the-art facility. Sterling is an ISO 9001:2008 certified company operating a quality management system which ensures consistent quality and traceability. Sterling wires are certified by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Illinois US in eight categories, and more are being added. The company believes in using special high conductivity metal rods and enamels of international repute. Production of wires is done on 100 percent imported machines with imported dies and tooling”.
Sterling is an ISO 9001:2008 certified company operating a quality management system which ensures consistent quality and traceability
Many of the company’s manufacturing lines are equipped with Online Lear System, US, to detect surface roughness and pinholes. Manufacturing processes follow international pollution control standards with green environment. Quality and performance of their wires have made the products No.1 brand in the country for aluminium winding wires.
Sterling offers Copper and Aluminium winding wires in the size range 38 SWG (0.152mm) to 6 SWG (in packing of 1 KG to 200 KG). In spite of these varied dimensions, insulation covering, class, and packing, the company most of the time is able to deliver to the customer on demand within 24 hours. Sterling is delivering one of the best products of this industry for making air conditioner motors, big industrial motors, appliances, transformers, automotive, electronics and other products that are being used in making refrigerator compressors and motors, cooler motor, and appliances like mixi, washing machine, fans, invertors, distribution transformers, and automotive that are using the wires in their products for domestic and export market with a warranty and reliability of more than a 10 years.
Sumit states, “Our Copper and aluminium wires have been running at 2800 RPM on German stratomat winding and insertion machines with almost NIL rejection in open and shot. Our material has better softness, resulting in easy workability and forming of coils, especially on automatic windings. Our 70 kg joint-less packing in aluminium increases productivity at the customers' end, thus leading to substantial savings. Our product is been used widely in compressors by Tecumseh, LG, and Marathon Electric, and we are the only company to be approved by Regal Beloit US for their 100 percent export unit. We produce our wires on 100 percent imported machines. Internal and external quality PPMS are one of the lowest in the winding wire industry. Our fully automated state-of-the-art plant with ultra-modern technology following international standards has resulted in consistent and reliable quality to last for years”.
Looking at the Future
Sterling wires started in a very humble way as a partnership company in 2003 in a plot size of 550 sq. m. only and has become the largest aluminium winding wire setup not only in India, but maybe in South Asia, excluding China. In the 2008-09, when copper prices were high and the industry was shifting from copper to aluminium, aluminium was considered a cheap dirty metal and there were no organized players in the industry. Aluminium wire was primarily being imported from China, Taiwan, Japan and Europe. Sterling was the first company to adopt this technological change in an organized way and ventured into aluminium winding wire production. Sterling is the first in the country to produce class 220 aluminium enamelled wires.
For example, “In the organized ceiling fan industry, aluminium winding wires were not being used. We shared the concept with all big brands. One of them believed in us. We were instrumental in educating their entire team on the challenges, issues, and benefits of using aluminium winding wires in this industry. They could achieve the winding speed same as that in copper with a saving of almost 15 percent per fan. We are sure that very soon, others will follow and save thousands of crores annually only in the fan industry”.
Speaking about the future of the company-Sterling has always been pioneers of innovation and technology, to be the best in winding wires to take the Indian winding wires to the world and make India proud.
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